913 



py 1 



Ihe Irish Question 



IllllliUlllllllllllllllillllllllllllllllllllllillllUlllllllllilllllllllllllll 





The Irish Question 




ROY L. SMITH 



Copyrighted 1921 by 

THE STANDARD PRESS 

Minneapolis, Minn, 



*% 



PCI A 79 1138 

FEB -5 1924 



WHY ANOTHER IRISH PAMPHLET? 

There is no more persistent and troublesome 
problem in modern politics than the Irish Question. 
It will not down. Year after year various ex' 
pedients fail and the columns of the daily press are 
filled with new stories of unrest. Commissions have 
investigated and reported. Travellers have raced 
through the island and come back to America to 
lecture and write upon the subject. All over 
America volunteer societies are raising money to 
finance some cause or other within the island. The 
country has been flooded with pamphlets and leaf- 
lets which seek to enlist sympathy for one or the 
other of the two sides of the question. 

To the average man the whole case is so be- 
wildering and the understanding so uncertain that 
he cannot tell you what it is all about. Terms 
like Sinn Fein, Ulster, Unionist, Home Rule, Act of 
Union, Nationalist, etc., are mingled with all man- 
ner of confusion in his mind. It is for the purpose 
of stating the issues so that the plain man of the 
street may get a bird's eye view of the whole case 
that this pamphlet has been prepared. It 1$ an 



THE IRISH QUESTION 

effort to answer the questions which he would like 
to ask about the Irish Question. 

In a time when the sacred name of "Liberty" is 
being invoked in the interests of four and a half 
million of people, three million of whom are in 
revolt against the government under which they 
have lived for seven hundred years; when millions 
of dollars are being asked of American citizens for 
the purpose of setting up an independent govern- 
ment; when every effort should be made to promote 
rather than to jeopardize the pacific relations exist- 
ing between the United States and Gieat Britain; 
when bitter and partisan sympathies are seeking to 
drive a wedge between the two great English speak- 
ing nations; at such a time it is highly important 
that the average citizen should know the funda- 
mental facts concerning the whole controversy. 

That the author has a strong personal bias in 
this discussion will be frankly admitted. That he 
has made an honest effort to report facts will ap- 
pear as the pages follow. If any should differ with 
him it will either be to controvert the facts stated, 
or to challenge his interpretations thereof. No ef- 
fort has been made to provide footnotes or cite 
authorities. The informed student will readily 
recognize the sources of material and others will 



THE IRISH QUESTION 

not be interested. No claim is made for original- 
ity. No tour has ever been made of the island. 
The information here given is just that which is 
available to any student who wishes to read the 
material available in any good public library. Scrupu- 
lous pains have been taken, however, to read all 
the important contributions to the subject and the 
conclusions here offered are born out of extensive 
reading through a period of years, in which hun- 
dreds of books, pamplets, magazine articles and 
comission reports have been carefully studied. 

For several years the author had a strong sym- 
pathy for the so-called cause of 'Irish Freedom." 
An ancient strain of Irish blood mingles in his 
veins. A Revolutionary ancestry that does not for- 
get British oppression during the colonial days 
predisposed him to strong suspicions of British 
understanding of Ireland's aspirations for self gov- 
ernment. The popular appeal of "oppression" 
found ready acceptance and strong sympathy. Be- 
cause of ignorance concerning the terms appearing 
in the daily press a study was begun to secure an 
intelligent understanding of the newspaper reports. 
As the investigation proceeded the viewpoint shifted 
— at first slowly and then with precision and finally 
with conviction. The result is that the author now 

5 



THE IRISH QUESTION 

entei tains a strong sympathy for the Ulster view- 
point and firmly believes that Sinn Fein has scant 
claim upon the generosity of America, regardless 
of our love for the sacred cause of liberty or our 
devotion to the somewhat dubious doctrine of "the 
self-determination of nations." 

The material here presented was given on two 
different occasions from the pulpit of Simpson 
Methodist Church, Minneapolis, as a Sunday evening 
address and is here presented in printed form in 
response to an insistent appeal presented on the 
second occasion when hundreds of copies of the 
pamphlet were asked for. 

ANCIENT IRELAND 

With the beginning of the Christian era history 
gives small notice to the Irish people. Far separated 
from the continent they developed a life unentangled 
with continental wars or customs. Government 
followed the usual lines of family, clan and tribe 
with only an occasional prince maintaining rule over 
any extended territory. The life of the people was 
wild and savage, resembling in some part the robust- 
ness of the Germanic tribes but without producing 
outstanding leaders or organizers. 



THE IRISH QUESTION 

It is extremely important to remember, if we are 
to appraise the issues of the Irish Question fairly, 
(hat Ireland never was united under the rule of a 
single king as a separate nation. This statement will 
be challenged by some historians and Sinn Fein 
sympathizers but Father McDonald, Professor of 
Theology in the great college for Irish Priests at 
Maynooth, admits in his book "Some Ethical Ques- 
tions of Peace and War," that Ireland never was 
a nation "if unity of rule and independence are re- 
quisites of nationhood." When the "Irish Repub- 
lic," therefore, claims succession to the ancient 
Irish Nation this fact is of the utmost significance. 

The missionary zeal of the early Christian Church 
touched the island very early and its evangelization 
was swift and complete. So strong did the church 
in Ireland become that during the sixth, seventh 
and eighth centuries Irish missionaries went into far 
distant corners of the earth preaching the gospel. 
Some of the most heroic tales of early Christian 
missionaries are the stories of these intrepid Irish 
priests. Their contribution to the spread of the 
Christian faith during those centuries is not sur- 
passed by that of any group of evangelists the 
Roman Church ever sent out. 

At home the cultural life made remarkable pro- 



THE IRISH QUESTION 

gress. A considerable literature in the ancient 
Gaelic tongue came into existence. Art developed 
rapidly, especially in the monasteries. Some of the 
illuminated texts which were executed by hand with 
primitive pens are the despair of modern artists who 
seek to imitate them. The writer recalls examining 
one such piece under a powerful magnifying glass. 
In perfection of technique and accuracy of detail 
this ancient piece, done with primitive tools, out- 
rivalled the finest steel engraving. 

But for the intrigues of petty kings and princes, 
Ireland might have developed and maintained a 
civilization a century or more in advance of the 
continent. Saved from the devastating wars of the 
continent by her isolated position, she developed an 
exquisite culture but fell a prey to the feudal wars 
of her rival kings. Thus in the 10th century we 
find her cultural and religious life retrograding and 
her unhappy people sinking into a quagmire of ig- 
norance and misery occasioned by the wild warfare 
and jealous rivalries of her contending factions. 
There is no more tragic page in European history 
than the one which records the decay of that noble 
civilization of ancient Ireland. 

The first foreigner to invade Irish soil was the 
Norman in the 8th century. In 1171 the Danes 

8 



THE IRISH QUESTION 

invaded the land and Ireland appealed to England 
for help. In 1172 Pope Adrian IV, issued a papal 
Bull which was confirmed by his successor, Alexan- 
der III, authorizing Henry II, of England, to go to 
Ireland and "restore order." The Irish chiefs 
received the English king readily and the first real 
unified government was set up. In 1395 the liish 
chiefs reaffirmed their submission and in 1541 a 
parliament met in Dublin which formally recognized 
Henry VIII as King of Ireland. In 1642 a Roman 
Catholic Confederation meeting in Kilkenny and 
representing all of Catholic Ireland, decreed that 
"All the inhabitants of Ireland and each of them 
shall be most faithful to our sovereign the King 
and his heirs and lawful successors." In 16S9 the 
Patriot Parliament convened in Dublin and recogniz- 
ed James II as King of England and sovereign of 
Ireland. Whoever, therefore, claims that Great 
Britain has no rights in Ireland except those of the 
conqueror with the mailed fist will be under the 
necessity of explaining these facts. 

It goes without saying that English rule has 
often been severe and tyrannical. But Sinn Fein 
will search vainly for abuses in Ireland which were 
not aiso endured in all other European countries 
during the same periods. As we read the story of 



THE IRISH QUESTION 

the painful injustices suffered by the high-spirited 
Irish we must remember to judge the "tyrant" by 
the standards of his times, rather than by the en- 
lightened and generous ethics of our own day. 
Severity, tyranny, injustice and oppression were the 
burdens under which the common people of all 
lands were groaning in those hard-handed centur- 
ies. Ireland was no exception, suffering with the 
rest of Europe, under a cruel political creed. 

MODERN IRELAND 

For the sake of convenience in the study of this 
problem we date the beginnings of modern Ireland 
with the plantation of James in 1609. The modern 
problem may be said to date from that event. 

In 1601 two native princes of Ulster, O'Neill and 
O'Donnell, were seized with a desire to extend their 
sway over the south of Ireland and began an inva- 
sion. A Spanish army of 6000 men, co-operated 
by invading from the south. The two forces over- 
ran south Ireland and were only defeated by Eng- 
lish troops despatched to the island for that pur- 
pose. The lands of O'Neill and O'Donnell in Ulster 
were forfeited to the crown. The country involved 
in this forfeiture was barren and unproductive and 

10 



THE IRISH QUESTION 

the life of the people, according to contemporary 
writers, was wretched and lawless. In fact the 
province of Ulster at this time was the most un- 
inviting of all the island. 

In 1603 James II of Scotland succeeded to the 
English throne, following Elizabeth, and united the 
English and Scotch under one crown. Along the 
border between the two countries there had been 
warfare for many years and the existing animosities 
constituted one of the serious obstacles to a com- 
plete unification of the two peoples. James con- 
ceived the brilliant scheme of transplanting these 
border folk to the confiscated Ulster lands, thus 
saving two bad situations. It was not the first time 
that English colonists had been sent to Ireland but 
in former cases the women were not sent along 
and the colonists, marrying Irish women, had been 
absorbed into the native population. James' planta- 
tion, however, included the entire population and 
the colonists intermarried among their own group 
thus retaining their individuality. 

The plantation began in 1609 and continued for 
a number of years, the movement involving many 
thousands of people. The new Inhabitants of Ulster 
were industrious and thrifty and the land soon 
became productive far beyond anything that it had 

11 



THE IRISH QUESTION 

ever known before. The native population, driven 
off their lands and seeing them producing abundant- 
ly under the management of the new proprietors 
naturally grew resentful. But to all appearances a 
fair spirit of cordiality existed. 

Suddenly in 1641 a terrible massacre broke out. 
Two causes incited the natives to monstrous atroci- 
ties. The seizure of the land had long been a 
source of irritation but in addition the colonists 
were stubbornly Protestant and the natives were 
loyally Catholic. The massacre proceeded with the 
utmost fury and cruelty until a large proportion 
of the colonists had been slain. Dr. Mahoney, a 
Cork priest, published a statement in 1645 to the 
effect that 1 50,000 of the 250,000 Protestants had 
been killed. The truth is probably somewhat less 
though a few estimates run as high as 200,000. 
It was in this wholesale and fiendish massacre that 
the seeds of distrust were planted between the 
Ulstermen and the native Irish. Since that date 
the history of the land has been a tragic succession 
of riots, reprisals, massacres and murders. The 
hands of neither party are entirely clean. Nearly 
three centuries of guerilla warfare have fomented 
a distrust and suspicion that no "diplomatic" peace 
will ever entirely cure. 

12 



THE IRISH QUESTION 

In 1649 Cromwell landed at Dublin and began to 
put down the outlawry. He was undoubtedly severe 
but it was not a kid-glove generation. The native 
population was banished to the west of the Shan- 
non and the lands were given to Cromwell's soldiery 
in payment for military services in this and previous 
campaigns. This act has been cited by Sinn Fein 
as typical of the tyranny of England but it was a 
method generally employed by European monarchs 
of that century when it suited their purpose. So 
effectively did Cromwell do his work that "The 
Curse o' Crummel" is still a hideous phrase among 
the native Irish. 

Cromwell's soldiers were militarists and not farm- 
ers. They were glad, therefore, to sell their lands 
to English capitalists who thus came into possession 
of more than 2,000,000 acres of Irish lands. This 
saddled the curse of absentee landlordism upon 
Ulster and the evil spread to the entire island. 
Most of the soldiers returned to England or emi- 
grated to America. 

When civil war broke out in Ireland between 
James and William of Orange, two rival claimants 
to the English throne, Catholic Ireland supported 
James and Protestant Ireland supported William but 
the war was not a religious strife in its origin. The 

13 



THE IRISH QUESTION 

alignment of the two groups served to heighten the 
religious animosities, however, and aggravated the 
long-standing disagreements between them. It is 
interesting to note at this point that the now 
famous Irish color of green was first worn by the 
Protestant soldiers under William, the Catholic fol- 
lowers of James having taken the white. The Pro- 
testant color has become the national symbol. 

In 1800 the Act of Union was passed by which 
England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales were united 
under one crown, becoming partners in the British 
government.. Authority was vested in a common 
parliament meeting in Westminster. From this time 
on it is a mistake to speak of "English" rule in 
Ireland. It is British rule in which the Irish peo- 
ple had a full representative voice. 

According to the plan of Union there were two 
legislative bodies: the House of Lords correspond- 
ing roughly to the American Senate and the House 
of Commons corresponding more closely to the 
American House of Representatives. In 1919, un- 
der the Act of Union, Ireland had 105 represen- 
tatives in the House of Commons, elected by her 
own votes. At the same time Scotland, with ap- 
proximately the same population, had 75 represen- 
tatives. The ratio of representation in Ireland was 

14 



THE IRISH QUESTION 

one to every 40,000 people and in England, one 
to every 73,000 people. When Ireland therefore 
complains that she had no voice in her own affairs 
England and Scotland reply that they would gladly 
exchange places with her. 

Under the Union plan the four countries (Eng- 
land, Ireland, Scotland and Wales) maintained one 
Imperial treasury out of which the expenses of the 
Empire were paid. In 181 7 the Empire assumed 
Ireland's national debt of 143,000,000 pounds ster- 
ling and since that time Ireland has never paid one 
cent of either principal or interest. The taxes col- 
lected have been paid into the Imperial treasury 
and apportionments for local and provincial needs 
have been taken from the common fund. Counties, 
towns and villages are allowed to fix their own 
local rates undisturbed by outside inteiference the 
Irish counties thus having absolute control over the 
matter of taxation for local purposes. 

That Ireland has had a fair consideration in the 
collection and distribution of the Imperial funds will 
appear from the following figures. In 1918-19 
England contributed $3,455,310,000 to the Imperial 
treasury, Scotland $486,605,000 and Ireland, with 
about the same population as Scotland, $186,3 7 5,- 
000. On the other hand England received back 

15 



THE IRISH QUESTION 

for her own local needs $719,237,5000, Scotland 
$97,637,500 and Ireland $110,807,500. In other 
words, for the Imperial government, for the navy, 
the army, the diplomatic service and all the other 
benefits of the central government England paid 
$2,736,072,500, Scotland $388,970,000 and Ireland 
$75,567,500. In addition, for the same year, Ire- 
land received $60,000,000 for various pensions, 
$21,500,000 for a bread subsidy and $5,000,000 
for an "out of work" donation. 

THE TWO IRELANDS 

There are, as a matter of fact, two distinct Ire- 
lands. In the north stands Ulster, predominantly 
Protestant, the people being for the most part the 
descendans of the colonists of James' plantation. 
In south and west Ireland is the native population 
which is predominantly Catholic and which will be 
referred to for the sake of convenience hereafter 
as Catholic Ireland though many Protestants live 
within the area. One cannot understand the Irish 
problem unless one keeps in mind the differences 
between these two segments of the population. 

Ulster contains about a million and a half of 
people while the other three counties (Muenster, 

16 



THE IRISH QUESTION 

Linster and Connaught) have a total of about three 
million. These two groups differ in religion, racial 
heritage, economic interests, personal characteristics 
and political views. 

Ulster has all the racial heritage of the Scotch 
and English and is not, strictly speaking, Irish at 
all. The Ulstermen have the haunting memory of 
centuries of ruffianism practised upon them by their 
native neighbors and they look with grave con- 
cern upon the formation of any secret society that 
may develop marauding tendencies. The rest of 
Ireland looks upon Ulstermen as invaders who have 
stolen the lands of the natives. In 1793 Dr. 
Duigenan, a prominent writer born of a Catholic 
family, wrote, "The Irish Catholicsi to a man 
esteem all Protestants as usurpers of their estates. 
To this day they settle those estates on the mar- 
riage of their sons and daughters. They have 
accurate maps of them. They have lately published 
in Dublin a map of the Kingdom cantoned out 
among the old proprietors. They abhor all Pro- 
testants and all Englishmen as plunderers and op- 
pressors, exclusive of their detestation of them as 
heretics. — — — The Protestants of Ireland 
are but the British garrison in an enemy's country, 

17 



THE IRISH QUESTION 

and if deserted by the parent state must surrender 
at once." 

In their economic interests there is an equally 
wide difference. Ulster is the manufacturing dis- 
trict of the island. The five greatest industries 
of the island are grouped about Belfast. The large- 
scale industries of the entire island are concen- 
trated in Ulster. The agricultural life is still hin- 
dered by the unresponsive soil. Catholic Ireland, 
on the other hand, is mainly agricultural. Dairying 
and farming provide the basis of the economic life 
of the people. The result is that the great finan- 
cial interests of the island are centered in Belfast 
and the two sections present a different type of 
worker with a different mode of thought. Ulster 
tends to be cosmopolitan and Catholic Ireland tends 
to be isolated. 

During the war Ulster manufactured 90% of all 
the airplane cloth used by all the allies and 10% 
of the new allied shipping was built in Ulster yards. 
Ulster does business with the entire world through 
her various industries while 95% of the marketed 
produce of Catholic Ireland is bought by England. 

The difference of economic life would naturally 
produce a difference in the thought life of the two 
Irelands. But the other differences of religion, 

18 



THE IRISH QUESTION 

etc, accentuate the cleavage. Ulster is loyal to the 
Union, Catholic Ireland is restive and bitter. Neither 
group is inclined to compromise. Sinn Fein, 
though not a religious movement in the first place, 
is almost exclusively a southern party, very few 
votes for the party candidates being cast in Ulster. 

POLITICAL PARTIES 

The surly temper of the Irish and their im- 
patience of British rule has been the cause of end- 
less enxiety to the Empire. Many conferences have 
been held with leaders of various groups in an ef- 
fort to work out some system of government in 
Ireland which will be satisfactory to the Irish 
themselves and consistent with British honor and 
dignity. The various plans advocated have given 
rise to political parties, each proposing a different 
scheme of government. 

The Unionists are mostly Ulstermen, well satisfied 
with the Act of Union and opposed to any radical 
change. They are happy under the present arrange- 
ment and will not consent to any measure that 
severs their connection with the Empire. They 
have a fear of any partnership government which 
they will be compelled to share with Catholic 

19 



THE IRISH QUESTION 

Ireland. Such a partnership government would find 
them outvoted two to one and the accumulated 
distrust of the last three hundred years makes 
them very averse to setting up housekeeping with 
their insular neighbors unless they are given abso- 
lute guarantees which have not yet been satis- 
factorily devised. 

The Nationalists have been working for a Home 
Rule government for several decades. This is a Catholic 
party, composed of the native hish who have a 
strong national spirit. Since the rise of Sinn Fein 
with its more radical program of complete inde- 
pendence the Nationalists have lost a large part 
of their support and are now a comparatively help- 
less minority. At this point, for the sake of an un- 
derstanding of Home Rule, it will be well to dif- 
ferentiate between the position of Ireland under 
the Union and as a Dominion. Under the Union 
she has a free voice in the fixing of the national 
policy with her representatives sitting in the na- 
tional legislative body clothed with full represen- 
tative powers. Under a dominion she would main- 
tain something of the status of a territory in the 
American plan but with complete local powers re- 
specting her domestic affairs. There would be 
some gain in the administration of purely local 

20 



THE IRISH QUESTION 

matters but there would be a distinct loss in her 
prestige in national policies. Home rule would 
mean much the same as a dominion government. 

Sinn Fein has had a peculiar history. In 1902 
Arthur Griffith, a clever young Dublin journalist, 
wrote a book on "The Resurrection of Hungary" 
in which he emphasized the values of "self-reliance" 
in raising that nation in its economic and political 
importance. Some years before, a revival of interest 
in the ancient Gaelic tongue had swept through 
the island and many clubs were studying the ancient 
culture and literature much as we have "Shake- 
speare" or "Browning" clubs in America. At first 
it was a harmless diversion without religious or 
political significance. The government figures for 
1900 showed that less than 20,000 people of the 
Island used the ancient language as their everyday 
speech and the government itself lent much en- 
couragement to the interest in the ancient Irish. 
Griffith's treatise on Hungary tended to give the 
reviving nationalism a political significance and the 
new party took the name "Sinn Fein" which means 
"Ourselves alone" or "Self-reliance." The emphasis 
upon the national spirit soon attracted the intense 
patriots and political radicals. Up to 1914 the 
party did not have great voting strength but seizing 

21 



THE IRISH QUESTION 

upon a wide-spread dissatisfaction with the war, 
and aided by the priesthood who led the people in 
their opposition to conscription, Sinn Fein raised 
the standard of revolt and came into political 
power. It is now the dominant party in Catholic 
Ireland, the old Nationalist group having temporarily 
lost their following. 

In the main Sinn Fein contends for a complete 
separation of all Ireland from the Union with an 
absolutely independent government. They are op- 
posed to any partititon of the island contending foi 
a government that will include both Protestant and 
Catholic Ireland. Sweeping the elections of 1916 
Sinn Fein refused to allow any of her delegates to 
take their seats in the House of Commons and, 
when invited by Britain to a parley for the discus- 
sion of the problem, refused to attend even a 
Dublin conference of Irish delegates. The Irish 
Republic is the creation of the Sinn Fein group and 
is presidented by Edmund De Valera, one time col- 
lege professor and a prominent leader of the Sinn 
Feiners. It is interesting to note that St. Patrick, 
the Irish patron saint was not an Irishman but a 
Scotchman, that the Irish color of gieen is the 
ancient Protestant color of William of Orange and 

22 



THE IRISH QUESTION 

that the president of the "Irish Republic" is one 
with a strong Spanish ancestry. 

HOME RULE AND CONSCRIPTION 

Previous to 1914 the agitation in Ireland had 
been for Home Rule. Sir John Redmond, the out- 
standing leader of the Nationalists, gave a lifetime 
to the effort. In 1914 victory had seemed almost 
within his grasp. The Home Rule Bill had been 
passed by Parliament and the government was pre- 
paring the machinery to put it into operation. 
Ulster was defiant and refused to accept Home Rule, 
even training soldiers to resist with force if neces- 
sary. Then the war broke. Britain could not af- 
ford mutiny at home with her very life at stake 
at the front. She therefore decided to delay the 
enforcement of Home Rule until after the war. This 
delay infuriated Catholic Ireland and gave color to 
Sinn Fein's demands. The position of the govern- 
ment was exceedingly difficult. 

The first call to the colors saw young Catholic 
Ireland marching briskly away to war with young 
Protestant Ireland. Some of the finest service the 
crown enjoyed was rendered by these regiments 
from South Ireland. But the activity of Sinn Fein 

23 



THE IRISH QUESTION 

began to strike like a black damp and the re- 
cruiting fell to a mere trickle. Then Britain de- 
cided to apply conscription to the entire Empire, 
including Ireland, and thereat the Catholic Bishops 
met and denounced the measure and called upon the 
people to resist to the last. Again the government 
hesitated. Ulster was demanding that conscription 
be applied to the island as to the other members of 
the Empire and showed her good faith by sending 
as many volunteers into the army as she would 
have been asked to furnish under conscription. 
Catholic Ireland resisted and the conscription order 
was not enforced. In fact the Easter Rebellion, 
an ill-advised mutiny involving a comparatively 
small force, together with other open defiance of 
the officials resulted in the withdrawal of thous- 
ands of troops from the front for the purpose of 
keeping order in the island. The net result was 
that Ulster furnished 75,000 men for the army 
and Catholic Ireland with twice the numbers, fur- 
nished 70,000. 

The record of Sinn Fein is further clouded by 
such incidents as that of Sir Roger Casement. The 
German government had counted upon rebellion in 
Ireland as one of her aids in a speedy victory. 
The rebellion did not materialize in time but a ship- 

24 



THE IRISH QUESTION 

load of arms in a German vessel manned by a 
German crew was caught off the Irish coast as it 
was seeking to deliver the supplies to Irish rebels. 
A short time after Sir Roger Casement, an inter- 
mediary between the Irish and the Germans, was 
taken off a German submarine as he was returning 
to Ireland from Germany. Executed by the gov- 
ernment as a traitor he became a martyr to his 
people and his death was probably a tactical blun- 
der. Admiral Sims of the American Navy has 
repeatedly assured the American public that Sinn 
Fein activities were a serious embarassment to the 
British-American navies in their campaign against 
the submarines. The sympathy of Sinn Fein for 
the German cause is not even seriously denied. 

BRITAIN'S SINS 

No one who is at all familiar with British rule in 
Ireland will undertake to defend all her administra- 
tion of the island's affairs. Her judgment and 
good faith are under grave suspicion in many in- 
stances. But at least she is entitled to a hearing ori 
the basis of the efforts that have been made to 
settle the dispute during the last twenty-five years. 
Furthermore, simple justice demands that she .be 

25 



THE IRISH QUESTION 

judged according to the highest standards of the 
times in which the injustices have been perpetrated. 
On the other hand the turbulency of the people, 
the continued succession of Night Riders, Molly 
Maguires, and a score of other manifestations of 
terrorism give some justification for severe and 
retaliatory measures. 

Overtaxation is one of the charges made against 
British dominion. We have already seen how much 
Ireland contributed to the Imperial government in 
comparison with the other members of the Union. 
No section prospered by the war any more than 
Ireland for above everything else England wanted 
food and Ireland's supplies at close hand brought 
a good price. Her funds in savings banks mounted 
quickly from $356,000,000 in 1913 to #764,000,- 
000 in 1919. The Irish farmer is not a speculator 
but puts his savings in banks where he thinks they 
are safe. Yet British bonds were freely bought in 
Ireland during the early days of the war and con- 
siderable sums are today invested in British secur- 
ities. 

The Land System in Ireland was particularly 
vicious during the first half of the last century. 
Vast estates were controlled by English landlords 
who leased the lands to the Irish peasants at bur- 

26 



THE IRISH QUESTION 

densome rates. Furthermore the farmer had no 
protection against a raise in rates or eviction. The 
most industrious and thrifty farmer found himself 
helpless because there was no land he could buy 
and no protection when he rented. Poverty, land- 
slavery and backward methods of agriculture were 
the inevitable results. 

In an effort to correct this abuse the Imperial 
government compelled the landlords to sell their 
lands at reasonable rates and the government offer- 
ed the Irish peasant farmer the capital with which 
to make the purchase. He was permitted to repay 
the government at the rate of three and a quarter 
per cent per year, this payment wiping out prin- 
cipal and interest in the space of seventy years. 
By this system more than seventy-five percent of 
the agricultural land of Ireland is now in the hands 
of the farmers and the British government has ex- 
pended $750,000,000 in the enterprise. By the 
same generous plan some 50,000 to 60,000 cot- 
tages have been built for Irish laborers. These 
dwellings are neat, four roomed, stone buildings with 
slate roofs with about an acre or a half of ground 
attached. For these dwellings the Irish laborer pays 
a weekly rental of thirty to thirty-six cents per 
week. This is less than the price of a dish of 

27 



THE IRISH QUESTION 

prunes in many an American restaurant! Yet this 
rental will repay the government both principal and 
interest in less than fifty years after which the 
laborer owns his cottage. 

England, Scotland or Wales would gladly accept 
such a generous land system as now prevails in 
Ireland and three-fourth of the people of Europe 
look with envy upon the good fortune of the Irish 
in this regard. 

Depopulation is a favorite charge against British 
rule. In 1S00 at the time of the act of Union, 
Ireland's population was 4,000,000 which rose to 
8,000,000 by 1846 and now stands at 4,500,000. 
Sinn Fein says this loss is due to Britain's oppresive 
policy. But it was during the first fifty years of 
Union that we see the rapid growth. Indeed, the 
very harshness of which Sinn Fein complains most 
bitterly was incident to those very years. The 
Union can hardly be the cause of this loss, there- 
fore. There must be other causes. 

In 1846 the potato crop utterly failed and a 
second failure followed in the next year. The po- 
tato was almost the exclusive crop and the land had 
become devitalized through improvident methods. 
The population was reduced to immediate starvation 
and no government could have averted the disaster. 

28 



THE IRISH QUESTION 

Thousands starved to death. Oth&r thousands 
emigrated, many of them coming to America. This 
was the first time that any considerable immigra- 
tion had come to America from Cathoiic Ireland. 
Up to this time the Irish immigrants were Ulster- 
men who came to escape the incessant turmoil or 
to improve their economic condition. Once that 
Catholic emigration started it developed into a 
veritable tide. About this time an industrial revolu- 
tion was going on in the rest of the world in which 
the use of steam and steel played a great part. 
Agricultural Ireland took small part in this in- 
dustrial development and the enterprising individuals 
emigrated. Weakened by the potato famine and 
having no industrial interests the Irish people have 
not multiplied as have other groups. The reader 
may judge for himself the extent of English re- 
sponsibility for Ireland's depopulation. 

The development of Irish Culture is a perfectly 
worthy ambition with which the British govern- 
ment has never interfered. Indeed the Imperial 
government has spent more than a million dollars 
in the last forty years in the development of the 
ancient Gaelic. Yet Sinn Fein complains that 
Britain has attempted to stamp out the old Irish 
culture. In 1869 the Episcopal Church was dis- 

29 



THE IRISH QUESTION 

established in Ireland and the people have been free 
to pursue their own worship untrammeled for more 
than fifty years. The great National University, 
with colleges at Dublin, Cork, and Galway which 
holds its charter from the government and has been 
libeially subsidized from the same source, makes 
the Irish language an obligatory study. Dr. Douglas 
Hyde, the first president of the Gaelic League and 
now professor of Modern Irish in the National 
University writes, "The killing of the language 
took place under the eye of O'Connell and the 
Parliamentarians and of course under the eye and 
with the sanction of the Catholic pristhood and 
prelates. — — — From a complexity of causes 

the men who had the ear of the Irish race 

have persistently shown the cold shoulder to every- 
thing that was Irish and Racial." 

Retarding the economic development of the coun- 
try is another charge lodged against British rule. 
Sinn Fein asserts that Britain is interested in keep- 
ing Ireland economically dependent and to accom- 
plish this has discriminated against her in the ap- 
portioning of benefits under the government. But 
Ireland today has a department of Agriculture 
which is largely administered by the Irish them- 
selves and which spends considerable sums received 

30 



THE IRISH QUESTION 

from the Imperial treasury. This Department 
directs the whole agricultural and economic life of 
the people in a marked degree. The control of 
animal disease, the development of fisheries, the 
control of creameries, the marketing of produce 
and the improvement of live-stock are among its 
functions. 

British interference in Irish industry may be well 
illustrated by the following story of the Irish 
fisheries. On the west coast of Ireland are large 
schools of fish but the Irish had never caught 
them for the market. In order to encourage the 
fishing business the government bought motor 
fishing boats and sold them to the Irish on the 
same generous plan used in providing farms and 
cottages. Piers were built for the landing of the 
boats and then, in order to get the fish to maiket 
in the quickest time, little narrow guage railways 
were built across the island. Fish can now be 
delivered to the Liverpool market within twenty- 
four hours from the time they leave the water. 
But the Irish were not trained fishermen. Scotch- 
men were therefore employed by the government 
to teach the Irish to fish— one Scotchman in a boat 
with five Irishmen. As soon as the Irish were 
proficient the Scotch were sent back to their own 

31 



THE IRISH QUESTION 

waters. This plan has added an entire new in- 
dustry to Ireland's economic life and she is hun- 
dreds of thousands of dollars richer annually. The 
British government assumed the cost of the ex- 
periment. 

Ireland is essentially an agricultural country, 
little or no mineral wealth being available. A little 
coal is mined near Kilkenny and the salt mines at 
Garrick-fergus are operated but the wealth of the 
land is in her manufacturing interests, her dairying 
and farming. Irland holds a monopoly on the ex- 
port of live stock to England and her capital stock 
has increased from 3,000,000 to more than 5,000,- 
000 during the past seventy-five years — during the 
very period when her population was decreasing. 

Military police are never popular but to the Irish 
they are particularly offensive because they repre- 
sent the authority of "the invader." But has Britain 
any reason for the maintainence of this Irish Con- 
stabulary? War times frequently demand war meas- 
ures and during the last six or seven years the 
provocations have not been insignificant or isolated. 
The dubious loyalty of the Irish inclined the gov- 
ernment to take no chance. Much severity was 
doubtless due to suspicion but England remembers 
that she has not had a foreign foe in three hundied 

32 



THE IRISH QUESTION 

years with which certain elements in the Irish 
population have not intrigued behind her back. 
With her very existence imperiled and fighting foi 
her life England has shown commendable generosity. 
It is exceedingly doubtful if America has evidenced 
any such tolerance amid the exigencies of war. 

Oppression is an ugly word that calls out much 
sympathy. When Ireland charges all her woes to 
English oppression she misleads many people. In 
the first place England is but one element in the 
Empire, sharing power with Scotland, Wales and 
Ireland. It is true, of course, that she is the most 
powerful of the group. But the laws enacted in 
Parliament have been written in the presence of 
Ireland's 105 representatives. Those very repre- 
sentatives have had as much power as any other 
group of the same number in that body. In many 
instances they have held the balance of power and 
have always shown great political shrewdness in 
bartering their power with various groups to secure 
beneficial legislation for Ireland. More than one 
domestic issue has been settled for England or 
Scotland by this group of Irish votes. If England 
is to be charged with having dictated to Ireland, 
then Ireland may be charged with having meddled 
in English affairs. In all local matters the Irish 

33 



THE IRISH QUESTION 

have had as much latitude as the other segments of 
the Empire. It is an interesting sidelight on the 
contentment and peace in Ireland to discover that 
the emigration in 19 1 7 was the lowest in seventy- 
five years and even in 1913 before the war it stood 
at a very low figure. 

BRITAIN'S ATONEMENT 

As one reviews the almost paternal interest that 
Britain has taken in Irish affairs he is impressed 
with a program of reform that bears every evidence 
of sincerity. The land-reforms, the stimulation of 
industry, the subsidizing of the Irish laborer's eco- 
nomic development, the charity and patience toward 
her warring factions, the religious liberality and 
the encouragement of popular education constitute 
a record of which no Briton need be ashamed. In 
the reorganization of Ireland's government Britain 
has shown great consideration. Her present attitude 
is revealed in the remark of Lloyd George who 
declared that "Ireland can have any kind of gov- 
ernment she wants so soon as she can decide what 
that Is to be." And that is just the problem. 

34 



THE IRISH QUESTION 



ULSTER'S CASE 

Reference has already been made to Ulster's dis- 
satisfaction with any Home Rule government. She 
contends that any scheme which forces her into 
a partnership with Catholic Ireland is sentencing 
her to political tyranny and economic death. Any 
Irish government comprehending the entire island 
would find the Ulstermen outvoted almost two to 
one. In such a government the levying of taxes, 
the assignment of benefits, the control of the judi- 
ciary, the development of education and the en- 
couragement of industry would rest in the hands 
of the majority. Ulster has learned to distrust 
that majority through three hundred years of ruf- 
fianism, night riding and terrorism. She declares 
that her loyalty to the crown during the years of 
danger and her faithful labors in the common cause 
during the late war entitle her to sympathetic 
consideration. If she is unduly suspicious of 
Catholic Ireland the three hundred years of neces- 
sitated vigilance are a fair explanation. If Catholic 
Ireland asks for Independence on the basis of "self- 
determination" then Ulster will claim independence 
from the rest of the island on the same grounds. 
This is unsatisfactory to Catholic Ireland. 

35 



THE IRISH QUESTION 

In any government for Ireland Ulster is a neces- 
sity. Because of her superior industrial position 
she controls the financial interrests of the island 
to a large degree. She pays more than fifty per 
cent of the Imperial taxes. Hers is the industrial 
initiative which must be relied upon to guarantee 
the success of an independent Ireland. 

Protestant Ulster makes much of the danger of 
Rome's interference in the Irish government. This 
fear is heightened by religious prejudice for nowhere 
in the world do religious animosities strike deeper 
than in Ireland. Interference with local govern- 
ment is a common charge against the priesthood. 
Their part in fomenting revolt against conscription 
is amply proved. Ulster Protestants have shown 
marked ability in the development of their own 
industries, but religious intolerance which has de- 
nied them Catholic patronage has confined their 
activities to Protestant communities. The Home 
Rule bill of 1916 would have been applied to Ire- 
land, exclusive of the six counties of Ulster except 
for the veto of the Catholic heirarchy which insisted 
upon its application to the entire island. 

36 



THE IRISH QUESTION 



AN INDEPENDENT IRELAND 

Sinn Fein is crusading for an independent Ireland 
and has set up a paper government known as "The 
Irish Republic." This fantastic creation has exer- 
cised none of the functions of government except 
that of making war and raising money. The war 
has been made on the British military police and 
the money is being raised in America. Serious 
statesmen are asking if an Independent Ireland is a 
possibility, granting that Britain would consent to 
the secession. 

In the first place such an independent Ireland 
could never hope to include Ulster. She would 
die resisting. An Irish Republic which did not 
include Ulster would be reduced to financial beg- 
gary from the start unless subsidized by British 
or financed by American charity. Such an inde- 
pendent nation would require an army, a navy, a 
judiciary, a strong consular service and a wide circle 
of alliances. The latter necessity would make her 
only another trouble maker in the chaotic sea 
of European diplomacy. A nation of three million 
people could hardly expect to exert much power 
in European diplomacy except as a pawn for am- 

37 



THE IRISH QUESTION 

bitious first-rate powers. In such a case she would 
be an easy prey for unscrupulous exploiters and 
intriguing diplomats. As an independent nation 
Ireland is viewed as exceedingly dangerous by many 
of the ablest European diplomats. 

Ireland's profit by the scheme is dubious. The 
loss of Industrial Ulster would be a serious financial 
biow and the cost of her government would mount 
to soaring heights in comparison with present 
figures. Her markets would not be materially im- 
proved, her friends would not be increased and 
her enemies would be multiplied. 

Ninety— five per cent of Catholic Ireland's export 
trade is with England. The setting up of an inde- 
pendent nation would raise barriers that would well 
nigh annihilate this trade. England, with her vast 
merchant marine could easily turn to other markets 
for her supplies but Ireland would be 'under the 
necessity of erecting an entire new piece of com- 
mercial machinery including credits, securities and 
trade relations. It would be an expensive and 
difficult business which might prove disastrous. 
England can afford the experiment but Ireland has 
everything to lose. 

38 



THE IRISH QUESTION 



THE PRESENT STATUS 

Since the close of the war Great Britain has set 
herself determinedly to the task of finding some 
settlement of the case. To date the results have 
been discouraging. A separate parliament has been 
set up for Ulster under a plan somewhat resembling 
a dominion form of government. Catholic Ireland 
is still nominally under the Act of Union though 
the uprisings and riots have reduced the land to a 
state of chaos and military government. Various 
conferences have been held between the govern- 
ment leaders and the Irish representatives with no 
tangible results. The new parliament in Ulster is 
feeling its way and gradually getting a hold on the 
situation. The Irish Republic remains a govern- 
ment on paper only. The patience of the Empire 
is being taxed to the limit as the government pro- 
posals (generally viewed as generous in the ex- 
treme) are criticised on petty and technical grounds. 
The Irish representatives insist upon being treated 
as emisaries of an independent government in full 
operation and the British authorities refuse to 
treat with them except as beligerent leaders of 
Irish factions. In the meantime there is no general 
agreement among the people of Catholic Ireland 

39 



THE IRISH QUESTION 

as to policy and riots, murders, destruction of 
property and intimidations proceed. Both sides are 
becoming exceedingly weary of the purposeless 
turmoil. 

AMERICAS INTEREST IN THE IRISH CASE 

It is significant that the Irish case is being pushed 
nowhere else as in America. This arises from the 
fact that America has a deep interest in the settle- 
ment of the dispute. Ten of thousands of Irish- 
men came to America following the potato famine 
and through them the Irish prejudices and sym- 
pathies have been transplanted to our soil. America 
having been the herald of a new day in political 
thinking has taken the sacred word of "liberty" 
very seriously. Any nation that can set up a claim 
to sympathy because she is fighting for liberty 
gets ready responses from American people. 

Before Americans give endorsement to Irish claims, 
however, there should be the most careful weigh- 
ing of evidence. Catholic Ireland is demanding 
American support for an "Independent I» eland," 
alleging that Ireland's help during the American 
Revolution assured success for the colonists. It is 
significant, however, that the Irishmen who consti- 

40 



THE IRISH QUESTION 

luted 38% of Washington's victorious army were 
Ulstermen. The immigration from Catholic Ireland 
was almost negligible until about 1846 at the 
time of the potato famine. Since that time there 
has appeared in the east a series of political dic- 
tators of unsavory reputation whose leaders have 
been very largely recruited from these immigrants 
or their descendants. Ulster gave us soldiers for 
Washington's army while Catholic Ireland gave us 
Tammany! 

As these pages go to the press the conference 
on disarmament is meeting in Washington to discuss 
practical means for reducing the probability of an- 
other war. If America endorses an independent 
Ireland she is helping to project a new nation into 
the already turbulent and chaotic sea of diplomacy 
and is thereby attacking the noble cause to which 
she has given such masterly leadership. 

America has already offered serious offense to 
Biitain by her attitude on the Irish question. Until 
America recognizes the Irish Republic as an inde- 
pendent, functioning government, the representa- 
tives of that paper government can have no legal 
standing except as mutineers. Regardless, there- 
fore, of the personal sympathies of American public 
officials, they have no right to treat such individuals 

41 



THE IRISH QUESTION 

as honored diplomatic guests to be dined, feted and 
officially received. Yet that has happened in Amer- 
ica repeatedly and only the tolerant good humor of 
Britain has saved us from serious complications be- 
cause of this breach of international courtesy. In- 
deed, an impertinent resolution introduced into 
Cong/ess calling for official investigation of the Irish 
case Drought only a polite word irom the English 
people, the gist of which was to the effect that 
"Ameiica should mind her own business." 

A parallel case exists in American politics which 
will help us get the British viewpoint. A certain 
political group in the Philippine Islands are asking 
for independence. Suppose the Lord Mayor of 
London should officially receive a Filipino diplo- 
matic representative, and sanction his cause by at- 
tending a public mass meeting and speaking in the 
interests of Filipino independence. Suppose a 
resolution should be introduced into Parliament 
calling for an investigation of American rule in the 
Philippines. Suppose that societies should spring 
up all over England for the purpose of raising 
money for the financing of the mutinous Filipino 
government. What reaction might be expected in. 
America? Doubtless we would say to England, 
"You attend to your own affairs and we will at- 

42 



THE! IRISH QUESTION 

tend to ours. The Irish problem is yours, the 
Filipino problem is ours." 

Sinn Fein comes to America pleading for assist- 
ance in the name of democracy but when the 
liberties of the world were at stake and American 
soldiers were being hurried across the Atlantic in 
defense of democracy that portion of Ireland which 
was ruled by Sinn Fein was conniving with the 
enemies of democracy and doing all possible to en- 
sure the success of the submarines which menaced 
the lives of our soldiers. Once that they were 
landed in Irish ports and camps the American sol- 
diers were subjected to almost constant annoyances 
and insults. The evidence of the unpopularity of 
American troops in Sinn Fein Ireland is too con- 
vincing to be forgotten now that the war is ovd 
and Sinn Fein is pleading for funds for her cause! 

Can America afford to be drawn into a contiO- 
versy where the claims on her sympathy rest on 
such dubious grounds? If Sinn Fein can convince 
the world that she is another Armenia, Poland, 
Belgium or Serbia bleeding with wounds received 
in an honorable warfare for a great principle then 
the American conscience should speak in no un- 
certain tones. But when Irish savings banks are 
bulging with hundreds of millions of dollars in war 

43 



THE IRISH QUESTION 

savings while American capital is being sought 
through Irish bonds; when Ireland's sons walk the 
lanes and highways of Ireland unmanned except in 
night prowls, street brawls with the police, or 
treacherous raids; when the rights and liberties 
assured her by the governing power give her an 
administration that is the envy of three-fourths the 
popuiation of Europe; then American sympathy may 
well be given with extreme caution. 

Not many months ago the author made a short 
trip across the American border into Canada. A 
twenty mile drive into the Dominion brought him 
to a town of some three thousand people. He 
walked under the British flag flying from the 
post office, transacted business with the commercial 
establishments of the town, offered American 
money in exchange for his purchases, and drove 
out of the little town and back into the States 
without a word of protest or molestation from any 
citizen or official. At the point where the road 
crossed the border line there stood an iron post 
with the words "The United States" on one side 
and "Canada" on the other. Near the base of that 
iron shaft, not six feet high, appeared a sentence 
stating that this was the boundary line fixed between 
Canada and the United States by treaty. 

44 



THE IRISH QUESTION 

Looking to the east and west across the prairies 
one could see for many miles yet in all that distance 
there was not visible a single soldier, cannon, 
guard, fort or blockhouse. That iron shaft was the 
only mark! It is to the glory and for the pride 
of America and Canada that for more than one 
hundred years a boundary line nearly two thousand 
mile long has remained without military defense or 
dispute! Let America meddle with the Irish Ques- 
tion, arouse the animosity of England and possibly 
engage in a dispute that could lead to war and that 
boundary will be lined with trenches, machine 
guns, poison gas and all the materials of war. Is 
that what America wants? If not, then let us keep 
at least officially out of the Irish muddle until it has 
been submitted to America for arbitrement. In 
other words, let us attend to our own business! 



45 



OTHER PUBLICATIONS 
By The Same Author 

"The Young Christian and His Community" - 75c 

A text book on Social Service for Sunday School 
Classes, study groups, etc. 225 pages. Published 
by the Methodist Book Concern, Chicago. 

"Moving Pictures in Church Work" - - - 35c 

A complete discussion of the opportunities for the 
use of moving pictures in connection with church 
activities. 86 pages. Methodist Book Concern, 
Chicago, publishers. 

"The High Cost of Low Living" .... 35c 

A Chautauqua lecture that has been delivered 
more than live hundred times on the American 
platform. Art edition, 40 pages. Published by 
The Standard Press, Minneapolis. 

"At the Foot of the Rainbow" 25c 

Another Chautauqua lecture. Art edition, 48 pages. 
Published by The Standard Press, Minneapolis. 

"The Irish Question" 25c 

A concise statement of the main issues of the 
Irish dispute which answers most of the questions 
which the man of the street would ask. Pub- 
lished by The Standard Press, Minneapolis, 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



If 

021 342 167 



